CM administers oath to 2,090 pradhans, up-pradhans

Mahesh Chander Sharma

Sundernagar, January 15

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today administered oath of office to 2,090 presidents and vice-presidents of Mandi, Kullu, Bilaspur and Hamirpur at the Paddal ground in Mandi.

The CM said he was satisfied with the conduct of the elections. He said the government had decided to give Rs 10 lakh to those panchayats where pradhans and up-pradhans had been elected unanimously.

Virbhadra said 114 such panchayats would be given Rs 11.4 crore.

He said Rs 195.39 crore would be released to the panchayats as per the recommendation of the 14th Finance Commission during this financial year, adding that the first instalment of Rs 97.70 crore had already been released.

“The Congress has bagged a majority of the seats in the Panchayati Raj Institutions and urban local bodies and the victory is befitting reply to the Opposition,” the CM said.

He said the state had witnessed development due to the efforts of the Congress.

“The government has decided to empower the Panchayati Raj Institutions so that Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of a developed nation can be realised,” Virbhadra said.

He said the government had planned to impart training to the elected representatives for the smooth functioning of the panchayats and by the end of July, every representative would be trained and an amount of Rs 4.5 crore had been earmarked for the purpose.

He said women representatives had outnumbered men this time. The CM asked the members to ensure transparency and speedy development.

Earlier, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Anil Sharma welcomed the presidents and vice-presidents. He said the government had decided to entrust the functioning of the institutions to the Rural Department.

Onkar Sharma, Secretary, Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, thanked the district administration for organising the function.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Kaul Singh Thakur, Excise and Taxation Minister Prakash Chaudhary, Ayurveda Minister Karan Singh, Chief Parliamentary Secretaries Rajesh Dharmani, Sohan Lal Thakur, ID Lakhanpal, Mansa Ram and MLA Maheshwar Singh, Chairman, 20-Point Programme, Ram Lal Thakur, Political Adviser to Chief Minister Shri Rangila Ram Rao, President, Youth Sport and Culture Organisation, Vikramaditya Singh, President, District Congress Committee, Puran Chand and others attended the event.